Author of False Elector Memo: It Will Fail, but Still Worth It

The most recent indictment of Donald Trump made reference to what prosecutors called the "fraudulent elector memo," but the document itself was not made public. Now the New York Times has obtained and published the memo written by Trump-allied attorney Kenneth Chesebro. The broad strokes of the strategy to use overturn the 2020 election results with a slate of false electors has been previously reported, but the memo sheds new light on its origins and rationale.

• "I recognize that what I suggest is a bold, controversial strategy, and that there are many reasons why it might not end up being executed on Jan. 6," Chesebro wrote. "But as long as it is one possible option, to preserve it as a possibility it is important that the Trump-Pence electors cast their electoral votes on Dec. 14."
• He also predicted it was "likely" the Supreme Court would ultimately reject the gambit should it reach that stage. But he felt it was worth it, because it "would guarantee that public attention would be riveted on the evidence of electoral abuses by the Democrats and would also buy the Trump campaign more time to win litigation that would deprive Biden of electoral votes and/or add to Trump's column."

• The basic idea was to have these false electors in key states meet and cast votes for Trump in December, and Mike Pence would later count these votes instead of actual electoral votes in his capacity as vice president. Pence never went along with the plan. Chesebro predicted the Supreme Court would eventually rule that only Congress, not the vice president, could make such a move, per CNBC.
• Chesebro is one of the unindicted co-conspirators mentioned in the indictment, reports CNN. He wrote his memo to James Troupis, a lawyer working with the Trump campaign.
• Read much more on the strategy via the Times.

(More election interference indictment stories.)